I heard an interesting perspective that if you are for gay marriage but are not gay yourself than you should not get married. Then you really are supporting gay marriage by not joining the discriminating club.

I don't really get the point of the message that gets sent by this. Usually when you withdraw from something it is done to get the attention of the larger masses. When teachers go on strike, it sends a message because you have to find daycare for your kids. It then kind of puts you right in the middle of the issue and you can then choose to side with the teachers, or side with government and voice your displeasure.

By not getting married you aren't sending a message other than fewer marriage license fees/divorce fees.

What they really should do is round up every single person who voted 'Yes' to ban gay marriage and then uphold them to the values of the Bible (that they have used to justify banning this 'sinful' practice). If any of them are divorced, undo the divorce - that's not allowed. If any of them have committed adultery - stone them. Etc. etc. etc.

The sanctity of marriage died long ago, but hey, the customs of 5000BC said not to, so lets follow them. Now excuse me while I go talk about how backwards the customs of Sharia Law are while mispronouncing America as Mehrika.

Here's what I think straight couples should do in the meantime, HTRC: Get married, make a donation to the fight for marriage equality, and encourage your guests to do the same. And, hey, are you guys getting married in the next four weeks? Because there's a ballot measure in Maine that would strip same-sex couples in that state of their newly won right to wed. Help protect marriage equality in Maine by making a donation—right now—at www.protectmaineequality.org. And religious bigots in Washington State, where I live, are attempting to repeal a domestic-partnership law at the ballot box. Protect the rights of same-sex couples in Washington by making a donation—right now—at www.approvereferendum71.org.

And in addition to throwing some money around, HTRC, I think you should consider lifting one of the readings from my friends' ceremony.

"Marriage is a vital social institution," the reading began. "The exclusive commitment of two individuals to each other nurtures love and mutual support. Civil marriage is at once a deeply personal commitment to another human being and a highly public celebration of the ideals of mutuality, companionship, intimacy, fidelity, and family. Because it fulfills yearnings for security, safe haven, and connection that express our common humanity, civil marriage is an esteemed institution and the decision whether and whom to marry is among life's momentous acts of self-definition."

So touching, so true, and so universal—who could argue with those sentiments? Everyone at the wedding was nodding. And the reading continued...

"It is undoubtedly for these concrete reasons, as well as for its intimately personal significance, that civil marriage has long been termed a 'civil right.' Without the right to choose to marry, one is excluded from the full range of human experience."

After the reading—which was done by a gay friend of the couple—the officiant identified the source: It was from the 2003 Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court decision that legalized same-sex marriage in that state. It was a lovely gesture: The gay couples at the wedding were touched and the hetero couples were reminded of the injustice that gay couples face. It would be wonderful if this passage from the Massachusetts court's ruling on marriage equality caught on as a wedding reading, HTRC.

I don't really get the point of the message that gets sent by this. Usually when you withdraw from something it is done to get the attention of the larger masses. When teachers go on strike, it sends a message because you have to find daycare for your kids. It then kind of puts you right in the middle of the issue and you can then choose to side with the teachers, or side with government and voice your displeasure.

By not getting married you aren't sending a message other than fewer marriage license fees/divorce fees.

What they really should do is round up every single person who voted 'Yes' to ban gay marriage and then uphold them to the values of the Bible (that they have used to justify banning this 'sinful' practice). If any of them are divorced, undo the divorce - that's not allowed. If any of them have committed adultery - stone them. Etc. etc. etc.

The sanctity of marriage died long ago, but hey, the customs of 5000BC said not to, so lets follow them. Now excuse me while I go talk about how backwards the customs of Sharia Law are while mispronouncing America as Mehrika.

Not good at all busta. Man, I'm so glad to be in the 905... and here I was pissed that one my kid's friends who lives down the street had their bike stolen a couple nights ago. - I'm sure we'll catch the creep.

I'm not exactly in a dangerous area either. Seriously, who would have every thought there'd be a shooting in Oriole Park?

Logged

"Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts." - Daniel Patrick Moynihan

Not good at all busta. Man, I'm so glad to be in the 905... and here I was pissed that one my kid's friends who lives down the street had their bike stolen a couple nights ago. - I'm sure we'll catch the creep.

I'm not exactly in a dangerous area either. Seriously, who would have every thought there'd be a shooting in Oriole Park?

Sorry to hear about it from both the standpoint of the shooting victim and just how unsafe that can make you feel.

With that out of the way, maybe the shooter got confused by Oriole, and thought he was in Baltimore?

I think it's great that Obama has made his personal views on gay marriage public. The President making a statement like that is a big step forward, regardless of whether he's just playing politics or not.

But a statement like that would have been more helpful before the vote was taken. He also gave himself an out by saying that it should be left up to the State to decide their position.

I just want him to walk up to a podium, say "EQUAL RIGHTS, BEACHES!", sign a piece of paper, and make it legal. Yes, I know that's not how democracy works, but this is a pretty clear cut issue to me.

EDIT: I like this guy, Cory Booker, the mayor of Newark. He puts it very well.

I heard an interesting perspective that if you are for gay marriage but are not gay yourself than you should not get married. Then you really are supporting gay marriage by not joining the discriminating club.

I'm sorry, but that's completely absurd. The "discriminating club" isn't married people. At most, this gesture is a boycott of the wedding industry, which as an industry would certainly be thrilled of gay people had lots of weddings. It doesn't take money away from anybody who opposes gay marriage, and it doesn't take votes away from anybody who does either. It's a silent statement to nobody.

For that matter, if anything, this gesture would inadvertantly prove why gay marriage shouldn't be an issue at all, in that the marriage or lack of marriage between two straight people doesn't impact anybody else any more than the marriage ot two gay people.